The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Begonia plant, botanically known as Begonia pendula×Begonia boliviensis, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Encanto Orange’.
The new Begonia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Amstelveen, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new hanging Begonia cultivars with numerous brightly-colored flowers.
The new Begonia plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in December, 2006 of a proprietary selection of Begonia pendula identified as code number 03-H-27, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with Begonia boliviensis ‘Bonfire’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,108, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Begonia plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Amstelveen, The Netherlands in May, 2007.
Asexual reproduction of the new Begonia plant by cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Amstelveen, The Netherlands since July, 2007, has shown that the unique features of this new Begonia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.